Wraithknight
Wraithknight]] A Wraithknight is an Aeldari Ghost Warrior combat walker. Dominating the battlefield, the Wraithknight looks down upon its foes like a vengeful god of war. Armed with either massive directed energy cannons or a colossal blade and shield for melee combat, this giant Ghost Warrior can unleash blazing destruction or charge in to carve apart its foes. Inside its wraithbone hull, its pilot communes with the soul of his twin, for this Ghost Warrior is driven by two Craftworld Aeldari, one living and one dead, working as one. In many ways, the Wraithknight embodies the symbol of the cyclical nature of reality for the Aeldari, the curving discs that embody a portion of death within life and a fragment of life within death. Their contoured shells house the spirits of the wakeful dead in much the same way as lesser Ghost Warriors, though their armoured chests each hold a living Aeldari pilot within. These pilots are not normal steersmen such as those at the helm of Aeldari grav-tanks and aircraft, but rare and unusual warriors who were each born a twin. Role Wraithknight strides across the battlefield.]] The psychic link between the rare pairs of Aeldari identical twins is like no other. Whilst alive, these gifted individuals can sense the proximity, the mood, and even the thoughts of their counterparts with the ease that a normal Aeldari could feel the sun on his skin or the wind in his hair. The bond is so strong that should one of the twins die before the other, the surviving brother or sister will often fade away in sympathy. Sometimes, when such a soul-reaving loss has taken place, the surviving twin will sacrifice what is left of his life to pilot a Wraithknight. The essence of the dead twin is transferred into the large Spirit Stone in the chest of the giant Ghost Warrior, whilst the surviving sibling enters a near-permanent battle trance within the fitted cavity behind its breastplate. The clarity of thought provided by the living twin ensures that the construct moves with the speed typical of the Aeldari race, whilst the psychic link between the pilot and his departed sibling allows him to commune with not only the animating forces of his twin, but also the spirits of former incumbents that once controlled the construct's long-limbed form. The great measure of control afforded by this gestalt mind gives the pilot mastery over the construct's psychically-powered weapon systems and affords the war machine an acrobatic grace that belies its massive size. It is well that each Wraithknight is capable of such feats of heroism, for it is they who are at the forefront of the quest for new Spirit Stones. By passing through forbidden portals and traversing the shattered multidimensional spars of the Webway, Wraithknights can emerge onto the surface of Crone Worlds, where the nature of realspace shears with that of the Warp. It is the metaphysical friction of this unnatural union that causes reality itself to bleed, each drop of psychic energy crystallising into a new Spirit Stone. Only a Wraithknight can endure the Warp-touched environments and daemonic infestations that plague these planets and return with their bounty intact. Those mortals who embark upon such perilous missions risk not only their life but also their eternal soul. Only the Wraithknights have the power and resilience necessary to harvest a clutch of Spirit Stones and still escape from the nightmarish denizens of the Crone Worlds. As the end of days approaches and instances of birth become ever more eclipsed by reports of death, fewer and fewer pairs of Aeldari twins are born upon each Craftworld. A great many Wraithknight pilots are recruited from Revenant Titan helmsmen who have lost their twins in battle and, driven to regain their kinship whatever the cost, give themselves over to the twilight life of a Wraithknight pilot. As unsettling as it may be, it is whispered that some Craftworld councils are removing the option of choice from such individuals. Desperate times call for desperate measures, after all -- should a pair of twins be too attached to the light of the living world, it is possible to steer them toward a darker fate. Wargear Wraithknight cuts down a monstrous foe]] Looming Ghost Warriors many times larger than even the mighty Wraithlords, the war machines known as Wraithknights are still dextrous enough to run through the ruin of a shattered city, leaping from pillar to spar as their arcane weapons bring oblivion to the enemies of the Aeldari. Each carries either a pair of heavy Wraithcannons, their lengthy forms capable of sending their targets straight into the hell-dimension of the Warp; a Suncannon, powerful enough to obliterate a platoon of human soldiers in a single blast of roiling plasma; or a great Ghostglaive and Scattershield to engage even the the Daemon Lords of Chaos in single combat. Sources * ''Codex: Craftworld Eldar ''(7th Edition), pg. 77 * ''Codex: Eldar ''(6th Edition), pg. 51 es:Caballero Espectral Category:W Category:Eldar Category:Eldar Walkers Category:Walkers